Please feel free to grab your winning badges! Display them proudly, they are so deserved!

We'd like to thank also to every single one of you for joining in, all of your work is always so inspiring.

Don't forget. There is a new challenge MMW#27: AMMG with a Twist (Use Natural Materials) up and running for you so join the fun HERE, you could win some crafty goodness(£15 online voucher) from our sponsor

Sunday, 9 July 2017

How is it going? It's been nice and hot here in the UK and we're enjoying it to the full. You have to as it won't last long! Where ever you are, I hope you're having a good time.

We're back with a new challenge and this time there's a twist! We'd like to see you use natural materials. My teamies absolutely smashed it and I hope you will feel inspired by their gorgeous samples for this month's theme.

Before I show you their masterpieces, I'd like to thank to those who entered our last challenge. Oh my, you guys are so talented. There were so many amazing entries, I have no idea how we're going to pick our favourites. But do come back to check who was selected on 16th July. I can't wait myself!

Without a further ado, please see the amazing inspiration from the DT below:

Do you like to walk in the woods or in the meadow? I love! I like to collect herbs and dry them for the herbarium. This tag I did with some of them. They are inside, between layers of film. I made a video for you, it will be published a little later.

I decided to work on a wooden board. I used natural materials that I gathered in the field and on the beach. From the beach I took the small piece of wood and these absolutely smooth stones; from the field I gathered the moss and the wheat grasses. I prepared the board with clear gesso, painted a stroke with black paint, and then distressed it with sandpaper and distress ink. I painted the wheat grasses with golden acrylic paste mixed with finishing varnish. With the rest of this mixture, I randomly covered the stones and the edges of the board. You can see more details on my blog.

The title of this piece, She Is Of Nature, embraces the theme of nature's soothing solitude, and yet mystery. I love the look of Encaustic Art, but I do not enjoy the fumes or the heat that is part of painting with hot wax. I decided to experiment by creating a Faux Encaustic canvas. I started with a canvas board and a combination of mediums like gesso, modeling paste, glue, crackle paste, and antiquing creams. I was able to achieve a waxy look by varying the amounts of mediums and building layers upon layers on paper, stamping and stenciling. From my backyard, I gathered a small branch and picked three fresh leaves from a tree. I embedded the leaves and string beneath several coats of my medium mixture and cut and glued circles from the branch. I 'rusted' some nails to attach my altered wood chips. Just a few last finishing touches and my experiment was complete. Please visit my blog for more in depth details, a slideshow and a full product list.

MariaI looove using natural materials in my mixed media projects! Most often I use wooden branches, dry plants, sand and smalls stones. This time I made a thick notebook with textured mixed media covers. On top of the cover I created a multilayered composition using handmade paper, textile and a piece of tree bark. Inside are the aged sheets of paper and transparent dividers with dried plants on them, emphasized with transparent texture gel and alcohol inks. Big thanks to Nadezhda Knmelevskaya for teaching me this kind of art!

TorsaThis month our twist is with some natural materials !! I have created a layout where I have used Jute strings and natural dried straws !!

I'm totally speechless! What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below, it's always lovely to hear from you. I hope you're feeling inspired to have a go. Whatever you decide to use on your project, please mention it in your blog post, especially if it is not immediately obvious.